How far?

How far can it go? Bought some toothpicks last week. Toothpicks! Made in China! "Made in China" will soon become the most used words in the English language.

I'm old enough to remember when "Made in Germany" and "Made in Japan" meant second-rate goods, not just Taiwan and China.

Wagers that ten years from now it'll be Indonesia or something?

It's not so much where it is made, but the sly, diabolical, cheap ass marketing tricks American corporations are using to screw the consumer.

Case in point: Go to the BORG, any BORG, to buy four hardware widgets. Sorry, these widgets are now sold ONLY in packages, and there are only THREE widgets in a package. You are forced to buy two f*&^&^45 packages to get four. (This is fresh in my mind because it happened to me yesterday at Home Depot with eyebolts/screws)

The two hardware stores closest to me, who would have had these same widgets loose in a bin, much better made and cheaper in the outcome because you bought only what you needed, are now out of business.

And while we are on the subject, what is also amazing, at least to those of us old enough to note the difference between then and now, is the terminology used by corporations to foster the impression that they give a s*it, like "customer care" and "customer service" ... if there are any words more contradictory in today's lexicon, I've yet to see them, particularly if a telephone is involved.

Because of lack of perspective, relatively young consumers have NO earthly idea just how much more MORONIC the average employee, responsible for interface with the customer, is these days.

The BORG is not a hardware store. Go to Ace. They will sell you one screw or a box of screws. By the box they are pretty cheap.

..and to think we owe it all to Richard Milhous Nixon....

Larry

The closest Ace was one of the mentioned "hardware" stores that went out of business.

My favorite is "Hecho in USA". j4

If she was not already employed there, she may not have been hired since she'd only get pregnant and stay home with the baby. It was a common reason back then, not to hire women.

Suuuuuure we do. That's funny.

Wayne

Hey Swingman, you are close to Bearings Hardware... LOL.. You can get a Cappuccino and a flower arrangement to go with your purchase.

Sorry, no matter what quantity you have on hand, or is available in a package, it will be two (too) short of your requirement.

... and pay a dollar each for an .08 cent part for the privilege. That said, Bering's does have good help who know their areas, BUT, if you're male it's required that you wear Italian tassel loafers with no socks to get waited on.

Besides, I wouldn't want to take the chance that any woodworking friends would see me go in there.

Uh, no. Not much chance. We've only been married 17 years.

Charlie Self "Democracy is a process by which people are free to choose the man who will get the blame." Laurence J. Peter

I would rather use harbour freight's chinese bar clamps than sears's plastic handled ones... a lot of good basic iron like that comes from China. I just ordered ten 1/2" pipe clamps, after sampling ones from an instore purchase, $2.99 ea. and work great! It is a better deal than 14.99 ea. pony ones made in the US!

Alex

That was one of the signature accomplishments of the Nixon administration. He was instrumental in renewing political and trade relations with the People's Republic of China. mahalo, jo4hn

That's because you'll need SIX of the items. One will break during installation, and one will be defective.

These folks are actually looking out for you!

Barry

It won't be long before the US military has to order it's battleships from Tiawan and it's missles from mainland China because there are no skilled workers nor competent factories that can make them.